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Why I Love Richard Simmons (and how .com changed my life)

God Bless the .com. For the worlds and connections it opens up for us all.

Last night I stumbled upon a site that was promoting a contest, that I felt compelled to enter…and entering contests is not my thing…but sometimes exceptions are made (smile).

When I write straight from the heart, it feels like my mind chimes in and says, but of course I will support you with easy to read and assimilate ideas…

So last night at just before midnight, thinking this contest was over at midnight, for I was one calendar day ahead, I wrote without over thinking and thing. What I got had a few typos and needed a bit of clean up. But it came out easily and it felt good to re-read it.

And it’s a TRUE story that is dear to my heart.

God Bless the .com

What occurred on August 18, 1999 forever changed my life. And being laid off has its benefits.

Had I still been working, I wouldn’t have been home to watch the Rosey O’Donnell show, when Richard Simmons, forever the exercise guru, now host of “DreamMaker” , was the “mystery guest.” Once she figured out who she was talking to, he shared he was hosting a new daytime TV show. It was all about making people’s dreams come true. I was expecting my first and only child who would have no grandparents.

And maybe that was why I was stopped in my tracks when I heard what the show was all about.

An internet search led to the site. August 5th I emailed the show. August 13th I got a call from a producer, was interviewed, and they got my story. No promises were made. August 17th 2:45pm I’m gardening in the sunshine. Irene from International Locators of Coral Beach FL calls with a story to share. My birthmother has been found…despite two name changes. She informs me “my mother” is calling me August 18th at 6:30pm. I was floating six inches off the grass. The next day at exactly at 6:30pm, she called.

We talked and talked and talked and 11 years later we are still talking, growing closer than ever. And my daughter has the grandparents I dreamed of for her. And to think these days I get by without a television.

So a .com site was ultimately responsible for my daughter having “grandparents” and for restoring my mother to me after 34 years of not knowing and always wondering. I wonder no more. I know where I came from and we have a family that extends beyond our “nuclearness.”